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A man shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis was charged with assaulting law enforcement. A startling admission ended the case | CNN

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A man shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis was charged with assaulting law enforcement. A startling admission ended the case | CNN

Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna was on shift in Minneapolis on a Wednesday evening last month, making deliveries as a DoorDash driver, when he realized he was being followed by ICE agents, his attorney said.

He drove home and was tackled by an agent but broke free and ran into the house where his cousin Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis was standing, the attorney said. As he shut the door and was trying to lock it, Sosa-Celis said he was shot in the leg by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

Coming just seven days after a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good, the incident spawned renewed protests and heated clashes with police. An account of the events from the Department of Homeland Security soon after the incident conflicted with the narratives from the two men and their family members.

DHS claimed Sosa-Celis was driving the car and he, Aljorna and another man assaulted the agent before the agent fired his weapon.

The first inkling of the government questioning the DHS account came from the US Department of Justice. In a January 16 court filing supporting criminal charges against the two men, the DOJ asserted Aljorna was the one driving the vehicle.

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In a stunning reversal, the Justice Department on Thursday filed a motion seeking to drop criminal charges against the two Venezuelan men. In it, the DOJ said federal prosecutors provided incorrect information to the court, while ICE issued a statement admitting its federal agents made “false statements” under oath.

The two federal agents involved have been placed on administrative leave while the Justice Department investigates their “untruthful statements,” which were revealed by a review of video evidence, ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.

The two officers may be fired and potentially face criminal prosecution, Lyons said.

DOJ’s motion cited “newly discovered evidence” contradicting statements the agency included as the basis for filing criminal charges against the men.

It’s not clear what video evidence was uncovered, described in the motion as “materially inconsistent with the allegations” from federal prosecutors in the charging document. CNN has reached out to DHS for further clarity on the evidence and whether it stands by the initial statement following the shooting but did not hear back. The DOJ declined to comment on the motion when contacted by CNN.

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“This was an absolute unreasonable use of force, and the officer was fabricating claims against my client to justify that,” said Aljorna’s attorney, Frederick J. Goetz.

The dismissed case fits into a larger pattern in which the federal government has been quick to release accounts after a shooting by its law enforcement agents, which were later proven to be false, misleading or incomplete, according to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Examples include video evidence after federal agents fatally shot Good and Alex Pretti, which appeared to undermine elements of the government’s accounts of what happened.

Similarly, prosecutors last year filed to drop charges against Marimar Martinez in Chicago, who the government said rammed a federal agent’s vehicle before he shot her several times. A judge, who noted the government’s case included omissions that caused her to tread carefully, dismissed the charges against Martinez last year.

Martinez asked for evidence in the case to be released. When it was put out last week, the evidence bolstered Martinez’s account that hers was the vehicle rammed, not the agent’s. And text messages from the agent showed him bragging about the number of times he shot her. In a news release, the DHS called the shots “defensive fire.”

The shifting narratives from the federal government in the case of Sosa-Celis and Aljorna have further chipped away at the Trump administration’s credibility, as the motion to dismiss the charges with prejudice is a more dramatic admission from federal prosecutors because it indicates they put forth wrong information and means the case cannot be brought back, Honig said.

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Lawyers for both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna commended the department’s motion, calling it “extraordinary” and “exceedingly rare” in statements to CNN.

Here’s what we know about the case and how it fell apart:

In a January 15 news release, DHS claimed federal agents were targeting Sosa-Celis in a traffic stop – not Aljorna – as part of an immigration enforcement operation on January 14 when he attempted to evade arrest, crashed into a parked car and tried to flee on foot.

Sosa-Celis allegedly began to “resist and violently assault” one of the officers and the two were in a “struggle on the ground,” then “got loose and began striking the officer with a shovel or broom stick,” at which point the officer fired a “defensive shot,” DHS said. Two other people came out of a nearby apartment and attacked the officer, the agency said.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem described the men’s actions as “an attempted murder of federal law enforcement.” The agency stood by its initial statement a few days after the shooting when contacted by CNN.

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On January 16, however, the Justice Department offered an account painting a different picture of the events in a filing supporting criminal charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna. That document said the driver of the car was Aljorna, who prosecutors said was zigzagging through traffic while agents pursued the vehicle.

Aljorna, the affidavit claimed, hit a light pole before fleeing from the car, with an ICE agent chasing him on foot toward the home. Both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna were accused of hitting one of the agents with a shovel or broom before the agent pointed his weapon at the two men, causing them to run toward the home, the affidavit said.

As Sosa-Celis and Aljorna ran inside, the agent fired one round from his pistol “towards the vicinity” of the two men but at the time, the officer was “uncertain if his shot struck any of them,” the DOJ’s affidavit said.

Aljorna’s attorney told CNN the Trump administration’s claims his client and Sosa-Celis attacked federal agents with a broomstick or shovel “never happened.”

Sosa-Celis, speaking from a hospital room on a livestream video on his Facebook account, described engaging in some sort of struggle with federal agents as he was helping his cousin escape arrest and get inside their shared home.

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As Aljorna was being followed in his car, the fatal shooting of Good the week prior was fresh in his mind and he was fearful, according to Goetz, his attorney. Aljorna called his family members, who told him to get home.

Approaching his home, Aljorna lost control of the car due to ice on the roadway and hit a snowbank, Goetz said. Aljorna was then tackled by an ICE agent after running from the car, just 10 feet away from the door, where Sosa-Celis had walked out and called for him to get inside, the attorney said.

Aljorna was able to slip out of his jacket, freeing himself from the agent’s grasp, and ran to his cousin, Goetz said. They both got behind the door and closed it when a shot rang out, he added.

The accounts from the two men were reiterated by their family members in interviews and livestream videos of their 911 calls, which differed from DHS’ statement.

One of them showed a video call made by Sosa-Celis’ partner and reviewed by CNN, frantically describing to family members what she says happened, according to Alicia Celis, Sosa-Celis’ mother, who spoke to CNN.

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In one video call, Sosa-Celis’ partner said, “Julio arrived first. They were chasing Alfredo – he had to jump from his car.”

“He ran and they threw themselves on top of him. After, Julio threw open the door, and they shot,” she added.

A different video obtained by CNN shows what was happening outside the home while the family waited inside, revealing agents approaching the home and setting off a flash-bang. Smoke can be seen, and ramming sounds are heard as someone says, “They’re in! There’s more than a dozen of them.”

“He told me, ‘Mom, ICE was chasing me,” Aljorna’s mother Mabel Aljorna later said. “Once we were inside, they shot at Julio,’” she added.

In his livestream from the hospital, Sosa-Celis said, “The shot that was fired happened when my cousin managed to escape, and he entered inside. I closed the door and as I was locking it, I heard the shot, and that’s when I realized I had been shot in the leg.”

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Sosa-Celis is “relieved that the federal criminal case is over,” his attorney Robin Wolpert said on his behalf, adding he is “determined to seek justice and hold the ICE officer accountable for his unlawful conduct.”

Confrontations involving federal agents have routinely been captured on video from multiple angles, which later served to discount parts of the government’s narrative of events. Videos from the killing of Renee Good, a mother of three, in her vehicle, raised questions about the federal agent’s tactics and decision to use deadly force.

Similarly, footage showing federal agents killing Alex Pretti revealed the ICU nurse was holding a phone in his right hand, and an officer removing a gun from his back waistband before the shooting. The Trump administration claimed an agent “fired defensive shots” and asserted Pretti was “brandishing” a firearm.

“It’s mind-boggling that DHS continues this pattern of making immediate, definitive statements about what happened that are very quickly disproved by actual evidence,” said senior CNN legal analyst Honig.

Judges across the country who were appointed to the bench by presidents of both political parties have made findings on record about DHS not being forthcoming, truthful or credible, according to Honig.

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The Trump administration has faced mounting credibility issues as its immigration crackdown has rolled out in blue cities nationwide. Even as several judges have acknowledged parts of its narratives may be true, others have described the government’s claims in court as “unreliable,” “untethered to the facts” and “simply not credible,” CNN previously reported.

The motion to dismiss the charges against Sosa-Celis and Aljorna with prejudice is “remarkably unusual,” said Honig. It speaks to how the government has rushed to put out possibly premature statements, which are at times incomplete or inaccurate, only later to be contradicted by emerging facts, he added.

Federal prosecutors are put in a “very difficult position” when they realize later “that something they’ve said to a court is not true,” Honig said, but they nevertheless have a duty to correct the record.

“While judges ordinarily give the Justice Department a lot of deference and a lot of implied credibility, that’s changing now,” he continued. “You have credibility only until you give it away.”

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At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country

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At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country

At least about two dozen people have died amid the perilous climate crisis-driven heatwave that has scorched swaths of the US with record temperatures.

As a huge heat dome sits over the county’s eastern half, extreme heat gripped millions of people in the days leading up to the US’s semiquincentennial on Saturday – and beyond it. More than 20 states experienced have reported stifling temperatures more than 100F (38C), marring celebrations. And more than 140 million people remained under active heat alerts across the US on Sunday.

Officials in New Jersey believe the extreme heat was a factor in the deaths of 22 people across 10 counties there, mostly in central and northern parts of the state. Many of the individuals were found in homes with no air conditioning, outside their residences, on the street and in parked cars, according to officials.

The first of those deaths occurred on Thursday, and the ages of the deceased in question mostly range from their mid-30s to their 80s. Preliminary findings cause investigators to believe the deaths are heat-related, though the chief state medical examiner for New Jersey would later determine the exact cause of death for each.

“This is not a typical summer heatwave,” the New Jersey department of public health said in a statement. “This type of heat can quickly become life-threatening to humans and to animals of all ages.”

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The National Weather Service (NWS) has said cool air from the north in the coming days is going to lower some of the most extreme temperatures in the region, including New Jersey. The Fifa World Cup final is scheduled to be held in the New Jersey city of East Rutherford on 19 July.

Elsewhere, a heat-related death was reported in Cook county, Illinois, Natalia Derevyanny, a government spokesperson, told NBC News. The cause of that death was recorded as organic cardiovascular disease – with heat stress as a contributing factor.

Hinds county in Mississippi reported the death of 74-year-old Mitchell Ray Cooley due to heat exposure on Thursday, state officials said. Cooley had been reported missing, and his body was found the next day behind a gas station, the county coroner said in a statement.

People watch the Sail 250 parade of ships at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on 4 July. Photograph: Adam Gray/Reuters

“Mr Cooley suffered from a medical condition that impaired his judgment,” the coroner’s office said. “Based on the investigative findings, scene examination, and subsequent evaluation, the cause of death has been determined to be weather-related heat exposure. At this time, there is no indication of foul play.”

Meanwhile, on 27 June, Martha Irene Van Egmond, 83, died in Bolton, Mississippi, after falling in her garden. When her husband, Rick, tried to help her up, he fell too. The couple were unable to get up and spent hours in the heat.

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Rick Van Egmond said he and his wife called out for help, and eventually two men from a nearby apartment complex came – but it was too late for Martha. She died surrounded by flowers, doing what she loved, he said to local news outlet WAPT.

Jeramiah Howard, Hinds county’s chief death investigator, attributed her death to the heat combined with her age, WAPT reported.

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A person cools off with water from an open fire hydrant during a heatwave on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, on 2 July. Photograph: Octavio Jones/AFP/Getty Images

As Donald Trump spoke during rain-dampened celebrations in Washington DC on Saturday, emergency services there had treated 51 people with heat-related issues as of 8pm ET, with 12 taken to nearby hospitals, according to local emergency response officials.

Other events scheduled for Saturday – including the Independence Day parade in DC – were cancelled amid the blistering heat. Among other weather-related disruptions, Trump’s so-called Great American State Fair on the National Mall also temporarily closed down on Friday after reports that 44 visitors had been treated for heat-related illnesses.

The worst of the heat started moving out of the US’s north-east and midwest regions by Sunday, shifting farther south into the mid-Atlantic and south-eastern parts of the country.

But scientists warn that heatwaves with extreme temperatures are indications that the world must lower the greenhouse gas pollution driving the global climate crisis.

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The NWS is urging the public to avoid heat sickness by drinking plenty of fluids as well as staying out of the sun and in air-conditioned environments. Officials have also asked people to check on relatives and neighbors.

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Paul Pelosi in hit-and-run in California, car left with major damage, authorities say

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Paul Pelosi in hit-and-run in California, car left with major damage, authorities say

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband Paul arrive at the funeral services for Clive Davis at Central Synagogue in New York, Monday, June 29, 2026.

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Adam Gray/AP

LOS ANGELES — The husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was involved in a hit-and-run in California that left a parked car with “major” damage authorities said Saturday, and he could face misdemeanor charges.

Paul Pelosi was driving his brown convertible Friday in Yountville, a town in the heart of wine country, when he struck a legally parked car on the side of the road, briefly stopped and then drove away, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. No injuries were reported.

A witness saw the collision and called 911. Shortly afterward sheriff’s deputies found Pelosi with damage to the front of his car on a road roughly a quarter of a mile away. He reportedly told officers he knew he hit something but was not sure when or what caused the damage.

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Pelosi, 86, did not have any alcohol in his system, according to the statement. The sheriff’s office referred him to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a process to determine whether he may continue to drive — something that officials say is common for older drivers.

Pelosi was not arrested, and because no one was injured, the sheriff’s office recommended a misdemeanor charge for fleeing the scene of an accident.

A staffer for Nancy Pelosi did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Paul Pelosi pleaded guilty in 2022 to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence in Napa County and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation. However, he served only two days in jail and received good conduct credit for two other days, leaving just one day to serve in a work program at the courthouse.

As part of his probation, Pelosi was required to attend a three-month drinking driver class and install an ignition interlock device, which forces drivers to provide a breath sample to prove sobriety before the engine will start. He also was ordered to pay about $5,000 in victim restitution for medical bills and lost wages, along with nearly $2,000 in fines.

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Crowds ordered to evacuate National Mall area as stormy weather slams DC

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Crowds ordered to evacuate National Mall area as stormy weather slams DC

The thousands of people attending the Great American State Fair and other areas around the National Mall are being ordered to evacuate as stormy weather approaches.

The National Weather Service previously announced a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in the District. Officials are asking attendees to seek shelter.

SEE ALSO: Historic Fourth of July fireworks to light up National Mall: How to watch live

The DC Homeland Security & Emergency Management released a list of places where the crowds can go to get out of the weather:

Federal Buildings:

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  • Ronald Reagan Building – 100 Pennsylvania Ave NW
  • Dept. of Commerce – 1401 Constitution Ave NW
  • Dept. of Agriculture – 1400 Independence Dr SW
  • Dept. of Education – 400 Maryland Ave SW
  • Internal Revenue Service – 1111 Constitution Ave NW
  • Voice of America – 330 Independence Ave SW
  • Thomas Jefferson Memorial – 16 E Basin Dr SW

Museums:

  • National Museum of American History – 1300 Constitution Ave NW
  • National Museum of Natural History – 1000 Constitution Ave NW
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture – 1400 Constitution Ave NW

Freedom 250 organizers released this statement:

“The safety of our guests, performers, and staff is our top priority. Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, United States Secret Service, United States Park Police, National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building. Available shelter locations include the Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service, VOA Building, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, the African American Museum, and the Ronald Reagan Building. Please remain calm, follow the directions of law enforcement and event staff, and stay tuned to Freedom 250’s official channels for updates. Freedom 250 will share updates on programming and doors reopening — please stay close to our official channels for updates.”

The Secret Service said they have suspended screening on the National Mall.

“Security screening on the National Mall has been suspended due to dangerous storms,” the Secret Service said. “If you are already on the grounds, follow directions from officers and event staff and move to shelter immediately. Do not shelter under trees.”

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Metro riders are also asked to seek shelter. Commuters should expect heavy crowds at stations near the National Mall and are asked to consider using L’Enfant Plaza, Metro Center, Archives, Federal Triangle or Federal Center SW stations to avoid congestion.

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